LeMarbre's family recently said the school sent a letter notifying him he will be terminated at the end of the school year. The educator seeks a waiver of Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System eligibility rules by being allowed to purchase the 120 days at his pension contribution rate of 11 percent.

The school district, which supports the proposal, said in a statement it is worth noting that the teacher's nine-plus years of work experience took place within a system with an extended calendar. Thus, he worked 13 additional days annually, or 117 additional teaching days above the norm, the district said.

LeMarbre is on an extended medical leave from his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Murray said, "But for the ALS diagnosis, he would be able to continue to work and achieve that 10-year time limit.”

Because it's special legislation, the bill had to be filed in the House, but the time period expired for its designated committee, Murray said. Now the Senate has to concur with the filing, said Murray, whose office is working with state Sen. Ryan C. Fattman, R-Webster.

LeMarbre’s wife, Jessica, called it the best news the family has heard in months.

"I think it’s awesome," she said. "Mr. Murray and I had talked and he definitely felt he wanted to do this for Philip as a (former) School Committee member, town selectman and now as a representative."

On the eve of the bill's filing, the Blackstone Valley Vocational Regional District School Committee voted to unanimously endorse the spirit of language “to conceptualize proposed special legislation for the benefit of science teacher Dr. Philip LeMarbre.”

Jessica LeMarbre said: "To think that BVT put my husband through all that stress and frustration for six months, and it wasn’t until after they decided to terminate him they were going to try to do something for him, it’s a little shocking."

The district said the teachers’ association and administrative team collaborated for months "to strategize the best possible scenario for this respected teacher."

After the family suggested LeMarbre's colleagues were willing to give him their unused sick time, the district noted that the intent of its sick bank, as established by the teachers’ contract, is to provide additional time for a teacher who has used all available sick time to recover sufficiently to return to work.

It was not designed or intended to be used to inflate retirement eligibility or to provide anything other than short-term relief, the district said, adding it never received the documentation necessary to confirm that he would be able to return to work and perform his teaching duties with reasonable accommodations.

The closure the district has suggested, rather than denying him earned retirement benefits as the family has implied, would allow him to immediately access his MTRS retirement contributions, and roll them over into a qualified retirement account without the impact that government pension offsets may have on any Social Security or disability benefits, the statement said.

The family had also indicated that it refused an offer of financial assistance by the district of $20,000 because it felt it was not sufficient.

The district responded that the family "did not disclose" that the teacher sought a $250,000 financial payment, which the district said was "outside the realm of possibility." Asked about the $250,000 counter-proposal, Jessica LeMarbre said the family arrived at the figure because her husband wanted to work another four years.

The BVT statement said: “Any suggestion that the district has turned its back on a valued teacher is simply not true. The district has a longterm track record of assisting staff and retirees to maximize benefits, and we take great pride in our reputation for promoting family values and looking out for one another. We also understand that a diagnosis of ALS is devastating, places enormous stress on the family, and evokes strong emotions.”

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